Gearing up for the Big Day

Posted on Wed Jun 9th, 2021 @ 8:02am by Admiral Tanaka Miyahara & Lieutenant Takeshi Nakazato 'Zack' & Mako Nakazato & Sayuki Nakazato & Zack Nakazato Jr.

1,637 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: Allegations
Location: Kumamoto, Japan

Commander Keisuke Takahashi of the USS Myogi stood just beyond the security checkpoint at the entrance of the wedding venue, welcoming the guests as they arrived after having their credentials examined by the security officers at the checkpoint. He was well-dressed in a civilian tuxedo with a stalk of celery stuffed into the pocket: A Takahashi family tradition said to ward off evil spirits if worn with one's wedding suit. Which, considering the evil spirits that loomed large, he and his bride to be would need all the good luck charms they could get their hands on to ensure their wedding went off without a hitch, because in a few hours' time, Keisuke would be saying his vows to the love of his life, and nobody was going to ruin their moment:

The security measures Miyahara and Tristana had promised and delivered on were impressive to say the least: The whole venue was protected by a magnetic shield generator to block any transporter beams. (This came with the unintended side effect that guests were unable to beam to the venue and had to resort to older methods of transportation to get there) The generator itself was guarded by a heavily armed security detachment who had standing orders to shoot anybody that didn't identify themselves, even if they were wearing a Starfleet uniform, and were furthermore authorized to use lethal force. The entire perimeter was lined with sensor arrays that were capable of detecting any kind of Federation-engineered espionage technology, which would silently alert the armed patrols if they detected any unauthorized movement, and the patrols (which themselves were spaced close enough that not even the most skilled Starfleet Intelligence operative could slip through undetected) would be quick to respond to any kind of threat. Furthermore, there were three layers of perimeter sensors and patrols between the layers, filling the spaces left in other patrols. With this much security in place, Keisuke and Maho were confident that any threat to the venue would be neutralized before it even reached the ceremonies, but just in case all that security failed, a small security detail would be present at the ceremonies to be on hand until the full brunt of the main force could be called in.

Keisuke's friend, Lieutenant Takeshi Nakazato, the appointed best man, stood by his side, sharing Keisuke's responsibilities, also dressed in a nice suit. Takeshi was lucky in regards to the amount of yellow he had to wear, as he was allowed to wear a different suit to set him apart from the rest of the groomsmen, who were stuck wearing yellow suits, Keisuke's favorite color. The only yellow Takeshi had to wear with his suit was his tie. Takeshi was happy to see his friend that he had known since the Academy married off to the friend he never knew he wanted, but at the same time was sad that he had to witness it while wearing an ankle monitor. Furthermore, Takeshi just couldn't shake off this feeling of dread that Daxer was going to come for him.

"I'm shaking like a damn leaf..." Keisuke muttered. "Honestly, I don't think I've been this nervous for anything in my life..."

Takeshi smiled, hiding his own stresses.

"You think this is stressful, just wait until the little one inside Maporin arrives." He said. "That's when your life kicks into high gear!"

"DADDY!" Came an all-too-familiar screech for Takeshi.

Takeshi turned and bent down to scoop up his daughter, spinning Mako around in the air before setting her down.

"There's my little rascal!" He said in a fatherly tone.

"Daddy, I put my makeup on all by myself!" Mako bragged.

"You did?" Takeshi asked. "Wow, you put on your makeup like a big girl now, didn't you?"

"I put on makeup like a big girl!" Mako reaffirmed.

As Takeshi was preoccupied with his daughter at the moment, Keisuke turned to interact with his wife, Sayuki Nakazato, wearing a dress colored black; Maho's favorite color and the color reserved for all bridesmaids save for the maid of honor, who would be wearing dark grey, again as a distinguishing mark.

"Glad to see you made it, Sayuki:" Keisuke said. "Even if you are running a tad late..."

Sayuki grinned slyly.

"Yeah, try telling that to the traffic." She responded. "Anyway, is it alright if I leave the kids with their father for a moment? I really do need to check in with Erika and the rest of the bridesmaids."

"All of this security is here to protect him from that evil Vulcan." Keisuke noted. "This venue has got to be one of the safest places for him to be outside of the Myogi. Besides, I'll be on hand to protect the little ones if something happens."

Takeshi looked up to his wife and saw that his son was also dressed for the occasion.

"And who's this little man all dressed up?" He asked.

"These clothes itch..." Zack muttered.

"Well, not everything is comfortable." Takeshi said.

"Little man here and your little rascal are going to be hanging around with you for a bit." Sayuki said. "I need to go speak with a certain someone."

"Of course." Takeshi nodded. "Good to see you here, by the way, dear."

"Likewise." Sayuki responded. "And I hope it stays this way all night."

"You and me both, dear." Takeshi said.

Sayuki then left her husband and kids and made her way to the farmhouse on the venue grounds. This small structure was where the Bridesmaids and Groomsmen were hanging out prior to the start of the ceremonies. When Sayuki entered, the ground floor was populated by groomsmen in obnoxious yellow suits talking and laughing amongst themselves. Obviously, they would all vacate and head out to the ceremony grounds ahead of the bride.

Sayuki removed her heels and stepped up into the house, ignoring cat calls by some already slightly-intoxicated groomsmen and making her way upstairs. In the main upstairs foyer, a few bridesmaids were hanging about chilling and talking to the maid of honor, Erika Itsumi. There were considerably fewer bridesmaids in the farmhouse compared to groomsmen, likely because some of the bridesmaids were already at the ceremony grounds, as Sayuki noticed on her walk.

As soon as Sayuki appeared on the upper steps of the Staircase, Erika turned in her direction:

"Oh, thank goodness you're here;" She said. "We were seriously considering kicking a groomsman out of the bridal party. Where were you, girl? You were supposed to be here like 20 minutes ago!"

"Yeah, try telling that to the traffic I hit on the way down." Sayuki said with a smirk.

Erika shook her head and sighed.

"I don't know why you continue to put up with such archaic forms of transport." She said. "You could have just beamed someplace nearby and taken a cab or something."

"With my two very young children?" Sayuki pointed out. "No thanks. Besides, my husband's GT-R needed a stretch of its wheels."

"Car people..." Erika muttered.

"Anyway, how's our blushing bride doing?" Sayuki asked.

"She's still getting ready." Erika replied, motioning to one of the closed doors of the foyer. "She's been with the photographer for the past hour getting all those cute 'getting ready' pictures."

"You think she's going to have us strike a pose before the ceremonies?" Sayuki asked.

"Doubtful." Erika responded. "You know that old superstition about the bride being seen before the wedding? Well, Maho's gone ultra-paranoid and doesn't want anyone seeing her before the wedding."

Erika turned her head in the direction of the closed door.

"Aside from the photographer, I guess." She added.

Behind the closed door, Captain Maho Nishizumi listened in on her bridesmaids' chatter as the Photographer was speaking to her, and she heard Erika's line about her paranoia being in overdrive. Maho sighed, as she knew this to be true: Considering that much evil hung over her big day, she and Keisuke would need all the good luck they could get to ensure it went off without a hitch. She had recently visited Sayuki, wishing to borrow a pair of her panties for the wedding to complete the set from the poem, but instead, Sayuki let her walk away with the watch that she had worn to the hospital both times she had given birth.

As she reflected on the matter, she had lost focus on what the photographer was saying.

"Will that be acceptable?" The photographer asked.

Maho came back around.

"Yes." She said.

"Excellent:" The photographer responded. "I'll just get a couple of pictures of you putting your shoes on, and then I'll get the shots of the bridesmaids opening their gifts."

"Of course." Maho said, grabbing her first shoe to pose as she put it on.

Once the photographer had her shots, Maho called for Erika to grab the bridesmaid gifts; custom Parrises Squares uniforms with the wedding logo and stardate printed on the backs in addition to commemorative pins, and pass them out to the bridesmaids.

Once Maho had a moment to herself, she approached the window and stared through the closed blinds at the wedding grounds below. Everything was almost surreal to Maho: In just a few hours' time, her father would be there to whisk her off to the altar, where she would say 'I do' to the love of her life. Everything was shaping up to be perfect; and Maho hoped that Miyahara kept up his promise for top notch security to ensure this perfection.

Maho quickly shook her head as she purged the thought from her head. Miyahara always kept up his promises; she and Keisuke should have nothing to worry about.

To be continued...

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